SAN JOSE, CA - OCTOBER 25: U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) (C) speaks as Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (C) and U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) (L) looks on during a news conference after touring the Stion production facility on October 25, 2010 in San Jose, California. With one week to go before the election, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer continues to campaign throughout the state of California in hopes of keeping her senate seat by defeating her republican challenger and former HP CEO Carly Fiorina. less

SAN JOSE, CA - OCTOBER 25: U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) (C) speaks as Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (C) and U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) (L) looks on during a news conference after touring the Stion ... more

Sen. Barbara Boxer, (D-Calif.), second from right, who is running for reelection, and Rep. George Miller, (D-Martinez), far right, who is also running for reelection, watches students Amir Aghaee, far left, and Gavin Villanueva, second from left, during tours of automotive classes at Contra Costa College in San Pablo, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010. less

Sen. Barbara Boxer, (D-Calif.), second from right, who is running for reelection, and Rep. George Miller, (D-Martinez), far right, who is also running for reelection, watches students Amir Aghaee, far left, ... more

Barbara Boxer sits down with Cisco CEO John Chambers at Cisco's headquarters for a "Town Hall" style meeting with Cisco employees in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, October 26, 2010.

Barbara Boxer sits down with Cisco CEO John Chambers at Cisco's headquarters for a "Town Hall" style meeting with Cisco employees in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, October 26, 2010.

Photo: Chad Ziemendorf, Special To The Chronicle

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Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., speaks to volunteers about the importance of mobilizing voters to get to the polls on Election Day, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010, in West Hollywood, Calif. California Democratic Party Vice Chair, Eric Bauman, right. less

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., speaks to volunteers about the importance of mobilizing voters to get to the polls on Election Day, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010, in West Hollywood, Calif. California Democratic Party ... more

Photo: Damian Dovarganes, AP

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Boxer grabs 8-point lead in U.S. Senate race poll

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Incumbent Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer appears to be fending off a strong challenge by Republican Carly Fiorina in California's U.S. Senate race, racking up an eight-point lead and getting strong support from independent voters, according to a new Field Poll.

With just four days to go in the campaign, the widely watched poll shows Boxer leading Fiorina 49 to 41 percent. Another 4 percent of likely voters favor other candidates, and 6 percent are undecided.

It tracks with a half-dozen other new surveys that show Boxer in the lead by three to nine points. A Rasmussen poll Thursday showed Boxer up by three percentage points, while the rest show larger spreads.

That means Fiorina, 56, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO who is making her first run for public office, has a chance to pull off an upset but faces a powerful headwind.

Most voters have already voted or made up their minds, the Field Poll found.

Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo described Boxer's lead as "comfortable" and the largest she's had since similar polls in the spring and summer.

Boxer will turn 70 next month and is seeking her fourth term. With 12.4 percent unemployment in California, the third-highest rate in the nation, Fiorina has made this the toughest race of Boxer's career since she narrowly won her Senate seat in 1992.

Just days ago, analysts listed the race as a toss-up, despite the state's deep blue politics. Now most have moved it to the leans-Democrat column.

Bucking the trend

California is bucking a national trend that shows independents favoring the GOP.

The Field Poll showed that both Senate candidates have a solid grip on their respective partisans. But the independents who make up 1 in 5 California voters and would always decide this race favor Boxer 49 to 32 percent.

Those three "all are issues where a majority of voters, especially women, are much more in sync with Boxer than Fiorina," DiCamillo said.

Fiorina has steered away from social issues, focusing exclusively on the economy; she has declared in person and in her advertising that she is not beholden to the Republican Party and would heed the wishes of California voters on abortion.

But Boxer has honed in on these topics, releasing a video Thursday attacking Fiorina for favoring offshore drilling, telling viewers Fiorina shares the position with conservative Sarah Palin.

Fiorina has also been dogged by her tenure at Hewlett-Packard, where she laid off 30,000 workers. The argument that other big Silicon Valley companies also laid off workers and that the period in question covered the dot-com crash has not taken root.

Experience counts

Many independent voters seemed inclined to support Boxer on the basis of her experience, even as voters in other parts of the country are in a throw-the-bums-out mood.

"I just can't bring myself to believe that Carly Fiorina could move in and do for California what a senior senator could do," said Jock Wayne, 78, of San Francisco, one of those polled who described himself as a liberal independent. "I think the stated goal of Republicans is to throw out all the Democrats and make Obama a one-term president."

Like most Republicans, Mountain View resident June Hendry, 85, backs Fiorina. She said she has written to Boxer and her Democratic colleague, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, many times over the years, and that Feinstein responds even if she disagrees, but Boxer never has.

"I think we need somebody else in there," Hendry said. "I can't see Boxer's done that much for California, like when the poor farmers had no water in the valley, it was Sen. Feinstein that came out and tried to get something done. The only time Boxer's in this state is when she's up for re-election."

The Field Poll was conducted Oct. 14-26 among 1,501 registered voters, including 1,092 likely voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.